Iliad is but a short portrayal of the ten year war between Achaeans and Trojans, which started because Paris, Hectors brother, took Helen of Troy to be his wife. Achaeans were not pleased with this since Helen was taken without dowry, an important aspect of marriage for the Trojans. Although Hektor believed that Paris committed a wrongdoing in terms of their social norms. He claimed that he should hasdt never been born because it would be better than to stand forth, the scandal and scornlooking in vain, for strength thou hast none, nor spirit within thee to have elope(d) with Helena (ed. Herschel p.52). This indicates that Hektors beliefs is deeply rooted in the social norms and conduct.
Being a citizen of his country, Hektor remained faithful and loyal to what he believes the society deems acceptable behavior. On the other hand, Achilles believed in himself more and repeatedly defied the natural order, believing that he is creating the needed order within his society. While Hektor follows the norms to create order and peace within the society, Achilles creates order by going against the order that the society has set upon itself. This signifies that his belief in himself is greater compared to his belief in the norms of the society. This can be seen when he tried to organize the army despite of the orders of the leader Agamemnon. Achilles believed greatly in his capabilities and skills as a soldier that he believed it was enough to lead the army.
Although Achilles wages war with Hektor at the end of the poem, he shows compassion for his soldiers, questioning why then do Greeks and the Trojans meet in such deadly feudto avengeHelenas capture when there soldiers that are serving the army have also their wives that they love (ed. Herschel p.183). This shows how Achilles believes that going into war must be justifiable. Although Hektor believes in the same thing, he still went to war believing it was his social obligation even if it meant leaving his wife and son despite her pleas to come with them when they escaped.
The weakness of humans is consistently played up within Iliad. Even if Achilles and Hektor possessed characters and skills that gave them the higher respect from the people, it was signified in the poem that these two are but humans, which experiences internal struggles and craves what humans normally crave for, that is to be recognized and to be successful. Because of their pride, thinking highly of their skills as soldiers, they failed to see that they are putting themselves, and their armies in grave danger. Because they wanted to claim success, believing they are the ones that will be able to get it, and believing that it will bring them their personal success, they sought each other. Pride does not do anything good as it blinds the self in his own justifications of his actions without considering the factors that are playing outside of his control.
This was shown when Hektor failed to see that Zeus only promised to make them reach the lands of the Achaeans and not to defeat them. Because he wanted to claim success, glory and fame, he blindly believed in the promise of Zeus cutting himself from the aid of his fellow men. With Achilles, he believed that his strength and invincibility has no limitations. His pride made him forget that he was still human who is weak against pain and sadness. He failed to realize this even as he grieved for Patroclus when Hektor mistakenly killed him believing he was Achilles. Believing greatly in himself, he also placed the Achaean army in great danger when he left the army to spite Agamemnon for taking Briseas.
Another human weakness reiterated in the poem was rage and anger. Because of his pride, Achilles went into a vengeful fury to redeem his pride that was lost when the person that he is supposed to be protecting died. But was his anger fueled by his thirst for revenge for Hektor but also to protect his image since Patroclus died wearing his armor and bearing his shield This indicates that Achilles, though he and other people believed he was superhuman, was indeed very human. He succumbs to such emotions easily and he disregards the effects of his actions on other people.
Even if both Achilles and Hektor believed in the value of peace, they waged war for different reasons, Hektor to protect the name of Troy and Achilles to protect his image. Both have been affected by the death of Patroclus but each symbolized the young mans death differently, for Hektor it was a sin and a grave mistake that will bring upon his death, and for Achilles it meant the death of Hektor to avenge Patroclus and to protect himself from the feeling of despair over his inability to protect Patroclus. This shows that although they have similar characteristics, their differences is mainly because of how they view things that impacted their lives. Although both have strong personalities, making them leaders, they are also weak against their own human emotions.
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